Understanding City of Austin Trash and Recycling Pickup Schedules

The City of Austin provides municipal trash, recycling, and compost collection services to over 165,000 households across the Texas capital. Maintaining consistent and reliable curbside pickup is key for keeping neighborhoods clean and minimizing illegal dumping.

The City aims to stick to regular collection routes and schedules. However, some exceptions like holidays, extreme weather, and service requests may require pickup schedule changes. Here’s what Austin residents need to know about managing city trash and recycling collection:

Finding Your Scheduled Pickup Days

Most Austin households have their trash, recycling, and compost collected on the same weekday(s) every week. Your specific collection days depend on your location along established neighborhood routes.

To find your scheduled pickup days:

• Check the welcome letter when you started city services
• Look at your latest utility bill for collection days
• Use the My Schedule lookup tool with your address
• Call Austin 311 assistance at 3-1-1

The My Schedule tool provides a personalized calendar showing your weekly trash, recycling, and compost dates.

Standard Collection Frequency

The City of Austin provides bundled trash, recycling, and compost collection services. How often pickup occurs depends on the service:

• Trash – Weekly pickup. Customers can choose 96, 48, or 24 gallon carts based on household size.
• Recycling – Also weekly. Cart size must match trash cart capacity.
• Compost – Weekly pickup for yard trimmings and food scraps.
• Bulk items – Monthly collection by request for large items like furniture.

Most households have trash, recycling, and compost collected on the same weekday every week. Collection starts by 6:30 AM.

Holiday Pickup Schedule Changes

City trash pickup is suspended on major holidays, requiring collection day adjustments:

• New Year’s Day – No pickup on January 1st. Trash slides to one day later all week into Saturday.
• Memorial Day – No pickup on the holiday. Trash pickup slides one day with Saturday service.
• Independence Day – No pickup July 4th. Trash pickup slides one day with Saturday service.
• Labor Day – No pickup on the holiday. Trash pickup slides one day with Saturday service.
• Thanksgiving Day – No pickup on Thanksgiving. Trash pickup slides one day with Saturday service.
• Christmas Day – No pickup December 25th. Trash pickup slides one day with Saturday service.

Check the My Schedule tool or your utility bill around major holidays to confirm adjusted pickup days.

Bad Weather Changes

The City aims to collect trash and recycling on regular schedules year-round. But extreme weather can sometimes disrupt pickup:

• Hot weather – Pickup starts one hour earlier at 6:30 AM from May to September to avoid afternoon heat.
• Flooding – Services suspended when road conditions are unsafe. Pickup resumes when waters recede.
• Freezing weather – Street icing may delay pickup until conditions improve.
• High winds – Trash pickup halted if winds exceed 35 mph. Services resume when safe.

For weather delays, the City will provide updates on:

• Social media like Facebook and Twitter
• The Austin Resource Recovery website
• Local news outlets
• Automated phone, text, and email alerts (if subscribed to)

Getting Collection Reminders

Forget when your regular city trash pickup days are? Austin Resource Recovery offers free automated reminders so you never miss collection.

You can sign up for:

• Email reminders sent the evening before your scheduled pickup days
• Text message reminders sent the morning of your scheduled pickup days
• Automated phone call reminders on the day of your scheduled pickups

Enable pickup reminders using the My Schedule tool or by calling Austin 311.

Reporting Missed Pickups

While rare, occasionally city trash trucks may miss your home on an assigned pickup day. If you seem to have been skipped:

• Double check your pickup date and collection times
• Look for service interruption alerts due to weather, holidays, etc.
• Call Austin 311 by the next business day to report the missed collection
• Be ready to provide your name, address, pickup date, and materials missed

The City will send a truck back out as soon as possible to pick up your missed trash or recycling within one business day of your report.

Changing Your Trash Pickup Schedule

Need to change your curbside collection service days or pickup times? Austin households can request schedule modifications by:

• Calling Austin 311 at 3-1-1
• Using the My Schedule tool online
• Emailing Austin Resource Recovery at [email protected]

Some common reasons to change your trash pickup schedule include:

• Moving your collection day to better fit your schedule
• Downgrading or upgrading your trash cart size
• Adding or removing yard trimmings composting
• Coordinating large item bulk collection

Schedule change requests may take 2-4 weeks to take effect. The City will confirm your new collection days once updated.

Stay Informed on Schedule Changes

Austin Resource Recovery aims to provide consistent weekly curbside collection year-round. But holidays, weather, and other events can sometimes disrupt schedules.

Stay up to date on any pickup changes by:

• Checking the My Schedule tool around holidays
• Enabling collection reminders and alerts
• Following Austin Resource Recovery on social media
• Reading your monthly utility bill

With reliable curbside pickup and proactive communications, Austin Resource Recovery helps households easily manage trash and recycling. Use the available tools and resources to find and track your personalized collection schedule.